Bad Day
by nikoboo
Summary: Everyone has bad days, even Link. After being shot at with arrows and a small fight with Ilia, can the hero tolerate the presence of a chatty nypmh? To his surprise, she actually helps. Kinda.


Disclaimer: I don't own nothing :)

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Link couldn't help but throw down his sword and shield in a rare display of aggression as he stomped angrily into the spirit spring near his (tree)house, sending water splashing into the air. Grumbling, he remained in the shallows and found a large boulder to lean on. The day had been absolutely horrible. He had been shot at by flaming arrows, trampled by boars, and rammed into by goats earlier that morning. Well, technically, it was Epona who had been rammed by the goats and he did feel horrible about it, adding to his foul mood. Ilia had also given him an earful about it, causing him to lose the last of his patience for the day. He had turned tail and run from her altogether. He felt a little guilty, but his irritation drowned out the guilt for the most part. All he wanted now was to enjoy the quiet and reflect on the good old days of last month before his whole adventure with Midna in the twilight.

Just as his eyes closed, a sudden splash somewhere near his left side caused him to jump, poised to attack, even without his sword in hand. A high-pitch giggle caused him to drop his arms and plop back down into the water. He knew that giggle almost as well as he knew Midna's. It belonged to the forest nymph, Kyriake, who had recently made the forest around the spring her home. She was small like all nymphs, only slightly taller than Midna when Link had first met her, dark-skinned from a life spent in nature and dark-haired, green eyes reflecting the wilderness she loved so much. One of her favorite things to do was to surprise Link. On numerous occasions she popped up out of nowhere in various forms. Link once nearly had a heart attack when her face appeared on the tree he had been leaning against. Another time, when he was out as a wolf on a relaxing nighttime romp, she had jumped at him, also in the form of a wolf. Link had concluded that nymphs, at least the one he knew, were annoying.

She opened her mouth to greet him but stopped herself and laughed into her small hand. "You have an arrow sticking out of your hat!" Link, never one to waste words, merely sighed, pulled his hat off his head, and set it on the boulder, not even bothering to pull the arrow out. Kyriake dropped herself into the water next to Link, still eyeing the hat and giggling.

"Bad day?" He cracked one eye open to look at her then closed it. The nymph took that as a yes and giggled again. "You know," she started slowly, smile still firmly locked in place as she swirled one finger around in the water, "You're an annoyingly decent and upright person, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed by you." This time he opened both eyes, but instead of looking at her, he stared straight ahead. He was listening. "I mean really. You're what? Between sixteen and twenty and you protect all the lands up to Zora and you herd goats! Talk about your triple threat!"

Despite himself, Link chuckled. "Stroking my ego?" He asked gently.

"No thank you."

He tilted his head to the side, confusion shining though his eyes. Kyriake rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Nevermind. If you don't get it then there's no point in explaining. Really, you are too pure for your own good. I'm sure Ilia would like it if you loosened up a bit." At her words, Link's diminishing bad mood swelled and consumed him. Crossing his arms, he slouched further into the water and began to blow irritated bubbles on its surface. Normally, Kyriake would have laughed or mocked him, but his furrowed eyebrows warned her not to. "Oh? Did you two have a fight?"

"..."

"It wasn't about Epona again was it?"

"..."

"Wow that's petty don't you think? Seriously, just get another girl. Ilia's a priss anywa-"

"Don't talk about her like that!"

Kyriake blinked in surprise, water dripping into her eyes from her hair. Link had splashed her in his anger. Frowning, the nymph lowered herself into the water sulkily, risking sideways glances at the angry hero. For a second he looked apologetic, but then he sighed and stood slowly, picking his hat up from the rock. "...thanks for not getting upset with me..." he mumbled sadly.

Smiling, the nymph followed him and chirped, "You're welcome!" Link thought that was the end of it and she would leave, but she followed him all the way back to his house. "I don't think I've ever seen you angry."

"It's been a long day."

Kyriake smiled sincerely at the tired hero's back. "Everyone has bad days, you know." He didn't turn, but she saw him nod. "I know you're the hero chosen by the gods and all, but even you deserve to have your bad days. No one's perfect y'know." A small smile made it's way to Link's lips as he turned to face his small companion. She winked back cheerily and continued, "Stuff happens. Tomorrow will be better."

Link's smile finally reached his eyes and he let out a soft laugh. "Tomorrow will be better," he repeated in agreement. Kyriake nodded and laughed happily, then held up her small hand.

"Wait here a minute."

Dashing back into the forest, she looked around for a few seconds before finding what she needed. Returning, she took Link's hand and dropped a tiny blue flower into it. It was pretty and petite with only four petals. He looked up at her, thankful but also confused. "They're called Sapphire flowers. They only bloom during the crescent moon." He blinked, still not understanding her point. She laughed. "They have bad days too, because the cheshire moon isn't always out, but when the night's when the moon smiles, they come out and are the most beautiful little flowers." He smiled, nodding at his little friend.

"Despite the bad days, even the smallest piece of beauty can bring a smile."

Kyriake nodded enthusiastically and added, "We're all small things in this world, and we're all beautiful in our own ways. Maybe today you had a not-so-pretty one, but that could mean tomorrow will be all the more appealing!"

Link smiled and nodded, raising his hand in a wave as Kyriake began to walk back into the forest. "Thank you," he said softly. "See you tomorrow."

Kyriake's laughter could still be heard, even though he could not longer see her. "See you tomorrow!"

Link shook his head with a smile and was about to climb the ladder up to his door when Ilia's voice stopped him. "Link!" He turned, lowering his foot and arms from the ladder and looked towards the forest, wishing Kyriake had stayed a little longer to help him make up with Ilia. He needn't have worried because she wasn't angry. "Look, I'm sorry I got so cross with you. I could tell you had a hard day, and well...I'm sorry."

He smiled and shook his head again with a quiet, "Don't even worry about it. It was nothing."

In return, Ilia nodded and opened her mouth to give her thanks, but was stopped by something else catching her eye. "Link, did you know there's an arrow in your hat?"

Link couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.


End file.
